Prior to the invention of digital photography, people tended to share photos by displaying printed copies in frames and albums, or would store them in a container in hope of preserving these assets for future use or future generations. Important photos would often be inscribed on the back with significant details (people, location, event, etc.) to preserve the memory of that particular occasion. Many people would share their memories by assembling an album that could be viewed with others. Occasionally, extra copies of special photos were printed for friends, relatives, etc. At one time, film slide shows were also a popular medium for sharing photo memories.
With the evolution of digital files, there has been explosive growth in the number of individuals taking digital photos, converting old photos to digital copies, making movies and gathering digital documents and in the sheer number of files people are capturing digitally. Today, virtually every personal computing device contains some kind of photo, movie or other type of digital file creator/player/viewer/storer/etc.
At the same time, there is little to no cost for people to store large amounts of photos in various “containers” of the modern age. Facebook, Flickr, Shutterfly and countless other social media and specialty digital files sites allow users to post and share images to a community with a frequency and ease that continues to feed the fire of the digital revolution. However, they don't allow much organization of digital tags, dynamic viewing of digital files, and the ability to export the digital files with new digital tags. Questionable and ever-changing privacy terms for user/account information, including digital files, have also left the marketplace leery of posting their full digital archive and associated context to these sites.
What is needed to complement the widespread availability of digital files is a medium that allows people to organize, view, preserve and share these files with all the memory details captured, connected and vivified via an interactive interface. Such a solution would allow digital files, including documents, photos, videos and audio, to tell a full story now, and for generations to come.